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Chapter 73
Women's Season (女の季節, on'na no kisetsu) is the 73rd chapter of the Golden Kamuy manga. Synopsis Sugimoto and Asirpa are hunting for pukusa (alpine leek) for food and Asirpa gives one to Sugimoto saying that they are delicious, to which Sugimoto agrees with. As Asirpa tells Sugimoto to continue to harvest the pukusa, Sugimoto takes out some miso and eats the pukusa with it. He then notices Asirpa staring at him and continues eating the food before noticing that she has gotten closer and finally by his side, looking at his miso container. She is able to take the miso, proclaiming it goes with anything as Sugimoto tells her it's not poop. Asirpa tells Sugimoto more about Ainu foods and diets, mentioning korkoni (butterbur leaves) and makayo (butterbur shoots) and says that while they can be eaten raw and as snacks, they leave black marks on the side of the mouths making it obvious that they have been eaten. She says that the Ainu have only two seasons: summer and winter and that spring and fall are just short periods that falls between them. During the winter time, men go into the wilderness to hunt, and so it is called "men's season", while "women's season" is when the snow and ice melts. During matnepa, the women harvests as many vegetables and grasses they can and dry them out and preserve them. They spend the summer preparing food for the long winter so that they can live without fear of hunger. Back in the village, Asirpa sees Kiroranke and Shiraishi who had also been harvesting together. Shiraishi exclaims that they were able to catch some Masu salmon before noticing that Sugimoto had eaten some butterbur leaves, to which Sugimoto sees that he has also eaten them. Shiraishi sees that Asirpa had eaten too much of it and the men laugh in amusement. Inside the hut along with Huci's sister, they are preparing the Masu salmon with butterbur leaves and alpine leeks to make some Icaniw (Masu salmon) ohaw. The five of them enjoy the food and night together, and the other kotan can be seen having a merry time as well. Eventually, Asirpa falls asleep and Huci's sister tucks her in. Sugimoto turns to Kiroranke and asks if he is worried about his wife since she would need the horse for plowing season. However, Kiroranke tells him that his wife is a hardworking, strong woman with many brothers so he believes she can do just fine. Shiraishi asks Sugimoto what is on his face, and he says it's medicine like knotweed leaves and mugwort to prevent the wound he got from the bears from scarring. Kiroranke and Shiraishi notes that Sugimoto would've been an attractive person that would be popular with the ladies and Shiraishi wonders if he has "someone special" back home. Sugimoto stares intently as he thinks about Umeko, and Shiraishi seeing that he's not denying it asks if that person is the reason why he is looking for gold, but Kiroranke tells him to lay off him. Asirpa has a dream about a certain time she spent with her father, in which she asks about her mother. Her father tells about how she met her mother in Otaru and how she taught him about all the things he didn't know, including the Ainu beliefs and Ainu language. Asirpa's father believes that since she has his blood as well as the blood of the Ainu people, she will be the one to lead the Ainu and notes that her eyes are the same as his. He is about to tell Asirpa something important which she must never forget, but then Asirpa wakes up from her dream to see Shiraishi snoring and drooling close to her. She hits him in the head with a stick and exits the hut angrily, proclaiming that Abashiri is still a long way to go. Character Appearances (in order) *Saichi Sugimoto *Asirpa *Genjirou Tanigaki *Osoma *Huci *Huci's Sister *Yoshitake Shiraishi *Kiroranke *Makanakkuru *Kiroranke's Wife (debut) *Umeko (cameo) *Noppera-Bou Category:Chapters Category:Volume 8